Jordanian blogger Firas recently raised a very important issue on his blog. He drew the attention to the fact that that bloggers contributing to Jordan Planet rarely talk about political issues. He has a point. Any frequent visitor to the site will notice how political issues are the topics least discussed on the site. If you compare the Jordanian blogging community to other Arab blogging communities, such as the Lebanese or Egyptians, you’ll notice a striking difference in the nature of topics discussed. While political posts dominate the majority of topics discussed among other Arab bloggers, Jordanian bloggers prefer to talk primarily about technical, social and personal issues.
What’s the reason for that I wonder? Is it because Jordan is seen as politically stable nation in comparison to other countries in the region such that politics doesn’t play a major part in the daily lives of Jordanian bloggers?
Or is it because Jordanians fear to tread into the political arena where they might criticize the government — something the majority of them fear to do? Or is it due to the fact that the majority of Jordanian bloggers reveal their identities, which has to make them think twice before discussing daring topics?
I believe the main reason is the fact that when growing up, we were never encouraged to speak up and express our opinions. Fear and self censorship will follow us wherever we go and whatever we do. Even though are we living in a fairly transparent era, making daring comments or expressing our unorthodox opinions without worrying about consequences still seems like a far-fetched notion to many. Maybe my analysis is flawed and I’m just being paranoid but really … why is politics absent from Jordan Planet?
I couldn’t agree more.